"Underground" is a song from

Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five is an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds (lead vocals, piano), Robert Sledge (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Darren Jessee (drums, backing vocals). The gro ...

's 1995 self-titled debut album. It was written by

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

. The song is about geeks and social outcasts looking for solace in numbers in underground music and art scenes. It peaked at #37 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The track was #3 for the year of 1996 on Australia's

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the ...

History

has spoken of feeling a social outcast at times and finding it hard to make friends as a child because his family was constantly moving. As he found initial success with the band

Majosha Majosha (formerly stylized as Majôsha) was an American alternative rock band formed around early 1988 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It featured Ben Folds on bass and keyboards, Millard Powers on guitar, Evan Olson on guitar, and Eddie Walker ...

and then forming Ben Folds Five with

Darren Jessee Darren Michael Jessee is an American drummer and singer-songwriter best known as a member of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five. Jessee has also worked as an instrumentalist for Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger and released two ...

and

Robert Sledge Robert Sledge (born March 9, 1968) is an American musician, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five. Biography Robert Sledge began playing bass guitar at the age of eleven. His brother was playing guitar at his house so he also learned how ...

, he began to recognize members of his audiences as similar types of outcasts. He noted that these types of people, who were in search of their own identities, would often find themselves gravitating towards the underground scenes (

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, etc.) of independent music. They would latch onto the scenes with particular fervor. "Underground" is both an ode to and castigation of these type of people, as well as the perceived notions of the underground scene looking in from the outside. As Folds says: A catchy, raucous romp laced with falsetto, the track became the first international commercial single and first U.S. radio single from the album ''

''. It introduced the band to the world and remains the most well-known track on the album and one of the most well-known songs of the band's career, second only to "

Brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

". The song was among the most popular performed at

concerts. It featured a degree of audience participation, including coordinated sound effects and retorts to various lines throughout the song. Folds continues to perform the song occasionally during his solo career.

Additional versions

Two distinct edited versions of the song exist. A

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

version appears with the original album cut on a 1995 promotional CD sent to radio programmers in the

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,Promotional Singles – The Unauthorized Discography of Ben Folds Five
/ref> as well as a CD sent to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for the same purpose. The radio edit version also appears on a second promotional CD for the United Kingdom released in 1996. The second edited version, a shortened version of the album cut of the song, was released as a commercial CD single in the

in April 1996 by Vital Distribution for

Passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

/ Caroline.Singles – The Unauthorized Discography of Ben Folds Five
/ref> This version was released on a 7" vinyl single in the U.K. at the same time. A second 7" vinyl single was released in the U.K. in September 1996. A live audio version of the song was released in August, 1996, in the United Kingdom by Vital Distribution as part of a 2-disc CD single set. Recorded August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry, this live version appears with the album cut of the song on the second disc of the set. The first disc of the set features the second edited studio version of the song. The live audio version also appears on the 1998 compilation and rarities album ''

Naked Baby Photos ''Naked Baby Photos'' is a compilation album comprising outtake material from recordings of Ben Folds Five's first two studio albums and live performances. Most of the tracks are previously unreleased rarities. Caroline Records' webpage for ''N ...

''. A live video version, filmed in New York on June 9, 1997, for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

program ''

Sessions at West 54th ''Sessions at West 54th'' is an American television program that featured music performances, and was in some ways a pop music variation on the theme set by the long-lived ''Austin City Limits'', though the featured musicians represented a number ...

'', appears on the 2001 music concert DVD '' Ben Folds Five – The Complete Sessions at West 54th''.

Music video

The music video was directed by David Hale.mvdbase.com
/ref> It depicts the band performing in an

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

saloon as Western fighting and other hijinks occur around them.

Singles

U.S. promotional CD single

Released in 1995 to radio programmers in the

to promote the song and the album ''

''. Features the album cut of the song and a radio edit version that differs from a second edit found on the commercial single releases. #Underground (Radio Edit) – 3:17 #Underground (Album Version) – 4:20

UK promotional CD single

Released in 1995 to radio programmers in the

to promote the song and the album ''

UK commercial CD single

Released in April 1996 in the

by Vital Distribution for

/ Caroline. Features a second edited version of the song that is shorter than the album cut but longer than the radio edit version. #Underground (Edit #2) – 3:36 #Sports & Wine (Album Version) – 2:58 #Boxing (Album Version) – 4:42

UK commercial 7" vinyl single

Released in April 1996 in the

by Vital Distribution for

/ Caroline. Features a second edited version of the song that is shorter than the album cut but longer than the radio edit version. *Side A: Underground (Edit #2) – 3:36 *Side B: Sports & Wine (Album Version) – 2:58

Second UK promotional CD single

Released in 1996 to radio programmers in the

to promote the song and the album ''

''. Features the radio edit version that differs from the edit found on the commercial single releases. The other tracks on the single were recorded live on August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry. The tracks were mixed by Alagia, Derryberry, and John Altschiller at Bias Recording Studios in

Springfield, Virginia Springfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs includ ...

, and were mastered by Dave Glasser at Airshow in Springfield. " Satan is My Master" also appears on ''

''. #Underground (Radio Edit) – 3:36 #Satan is My Master (Live) – 1:31 #Video (Live) – 4:10

UK commercial 2-CD single set

Released in April 1996 in the

by Vital Distribution for

/ Caroline. Features a second edited version of the song on the first disc that is shorter than the album cut but longer than the radio edit version. The album cut and a live version of the song appear on the second disc. The other tracks were recorded live on August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry. The tracks were mixed by Alagia, Derryberry, and John Altschiller at Bias Recording Studios in

, and were mastered by Dave Glasser at Airshow in Springfield. The live version of "Underground" and " Satan is My Master" both also appear on ''

''.
Disc One #Underground (Radio Edit) – 3:36 #Satan is My Master (Live) – 1:31 #Video (Live) – 4:10 Disc Two #Underground (Album Version) – 4:12 #Jackson Cannery (Live) – 4:05 #Underground (Live) – 5:14

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals, percussion *

– bass, vocals

Production

*Producer:

Caleb Southern Caleb Southern (born December 26, 1969) is an American professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, musician and record producer. He has worked with Ben Folds Five, Fear of Pop and Archers of Loaf. As of 2002, he was a member of Partners Ag ...

*Mixing: Marc Becker

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underground (Ben Folds Five Song) Ben Folds Five songs 1996 singles Songs written by Ben Folds 1995 songs Caroline Records singles